David Webster to exit from hotel giant InterContinental

David Webster is to stand down as chairman of InterContinental Hotels Group
after eight years. Mr Webster, the co-founder and former chairman of
supermarket chain Safeway, is one of the longest standing chairmen in the
FTSE100.

Under corporate governance guidelines, a director is no longer deemed independent after nine years on a company’s board. Mr Webster will achieve that length of service in April.

It is understood he is in no immediate hurry to stand down and is more than willing to continue until a suitable candidate is found. It is thought likely whoever is chosen will join the board for a period as deputy chairman before taking charge once Mr Webster steps down.

News of his departure comes just a year after long-standing chief executive, Andy Cosslett, stepped down, to be succeeded by the finance director, Richard Solomons.

It ended a period of long-term partnership between the trio, given Mr Solomons and Mr Cosslett had worked together at the top of the company for six years.

Under Mr Webster’s tenure as chairman, Intercontinental has sold off property assets and focused on an “asset-light” business model focused on management and brand.

He is perhaps best known for his time at supermarket group Safeway, which he co-founded with the late James Gulliver and Sir Alistair Grant in 1987 when their Argyll Foods group bought the then 133-shop chain from its US parent, Safeway Inc. The retailer grew in size to 479 stores, before being sold to Wm Morrison for £3bn in 2004.

When he retired as Safeway chairman in 2004 Mr Webster had a pension pot of almost £9m and received a further £4.4m in salary, payoff, share awards and options.

Under his chairmanship, InterContinetal sold a number of its hotels as part of its transformation from asset owner to operator of managed and franchised hotels. The hotels were from across the globe – in New Zealand, Australia and Fiji. By 2005 the group had sold a total of 121 hotels, realising £1.75bn.

Last year the hotel group announced that it was expanding in China with a separate brand which would cater for up-market customers.

“China is the fastest-growing travel and tourism economy in the world and we aim to build on our leadership position by developing this new upscale brand while continuing the fast growth of our existing brands,” Mr Webster said.

InterContinental wants to expand in emerging markets and has said that the China region could be bigger than its operations in the US by 2025. InterContinental has the largest China presence among international hotel groups, running 150 hotels under the brands of InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Hotel Indigo. It has about 500,000 rooms in Greater China.

InterContinental becomes the latest FTSE100 member to begin the search for a new chairman. Prudential announced just before Christmas that its chairman, Harvey McGrath, is intending to depart.

Earlier this week it emerged that Louis Shweitzer, the chairman of AstraZeneca, has agreed to stand for re-election after the drugs giant failed to find a suitable replacement despite a year-long search.